SharePoint Integration with Office

Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services takes Microsoft Office beyond the desktop application and brings it online so that we can share and collaborate more effectively with other people in company, group or organization. SharePoint is a web site that can be displayed in a browser such as Internet Explorer, and includes an interface for displaying lists and libraries in a secure database.

SharePoint also contains various web-parts that can display sorted or filtered information in various ways, or can display some kind of custom functionality. SharePoint can be used for something as simple as a list of contacts, or for something as complex as a project management dashboard for a new store opening.

Document management and sharing are the most important features of Windows SharePoint Services. We can use these features to create, manage, and share documents easily. Because these features are integrated with Office 2007, and can easily find them and use them.

File Menu Integration

Document sharing is fully integrated into the File menu in most Office 2007 applications. You can use the File menu to open or save documents in a document library on a SharePoint site. 

Document Check-in and Check-out

Windows SharePoint Services provides an intuitive, easy-to-use method for tracking the version history of a document. First, if you want to work on a document that is stored in a document library, you can check out the document. When you do this, other users cannot make changes to the document. This helps prevent the confusion that can occur when multiple users make simultaneous changes to the same document. When you finish working on the document, you can check in the document so other users can work on it. To check out a document, you must be a member of a site group with the Edit Items right for that SharePoint site.

Version Tracking

Windows SharePoint Services also handles version tracking for documents stored on a SharePoint site. Windows SharePoint Services keeps copies of previous versions of each document so you can go back and view the changes that were made to a document at any time.

Integrated Web Discussions

Windows SharePoint Services enhances the existing shared editing features in Office 2007 by providing inline discussion tools and by storing inline discussion comments on the SharePoint site. This means that reviewers can add their comments directly to the document and that reviewer comments are stored and managed centrally, so they are available whenever an editor or reviewer opens a document from the SharePoint site. 

Document Workspace Sites and Meeting Workspace Sites

Windows SharePoint Services introduces Document Workspace sites and Meeting Workspace sites, which are innovative new tools for communicating and sharing. A Document Workspace site or Meeting Workspace site is a SharePoint site that you can quickly create from an Office 2007 application to share a particular task, document, or project.